Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for managing inventory. In particular, the present invention relates to systems and methods for managing the booking and utilization of online advertising opportunities.
Background
The Internet has emerged as a powerful advertising tool. It is commonplace to see advertisements (“ads”) on many Web sites. For example, ads may be displayed on search Web sites and may be targeted to individuals based upon search terms submitted by the individuals. Other Web sites, such as news and sports Web sites, may provide space for display ads. Publishers of these Web sites may sell advertising space to advertisers to offset the costs associated with operating the Web sites as well as to turn a profit.
To place an ad, an advertiser may enter into a contract with a publisher to obtain a number of ad impressions on the publisher's Web site. An ad impression comprises a single instance of an online advertisement being displayed. For example, the advertiser may purchase 10,000 ad impressions for $100. The advertiser may further specify where, when, and/or to whom such ad impressions should be served. For example, the advertiser may specify a Web site or section of a Web site on which the ad impressions should be served, a time period during which the ad impressions should be served, or a target audience to whom the ad impressions should be served.
Ad impressions thus constitute a form of inventory. Online advertising systems exist that allow publishers to make their inventory available to advertisers. Such systems present the publisher inventory to advertisers in a manner that enables the advertisers to locate and book desired ad impressions for use in their ad campaigns.
Certain online advertising systems enable an advertiser to target ads to inventory located anywhere within a particular ad network (sometimes referred to as “run of network” inventory), to inventory located anywhere within the Web sites associated with a particular publisher (sometimes referred to as “run of publisher” inventory), to inventory located anywhere on a particular Web site (sometimes referred to as “run of site” inventory), or to inventory located anywhere within a particular section or channel of a Web site (sometimes referred to as “run of section” or “run of channel” inventory). By enabling inventory to be targeted in this manner, such systems enable publishers to offer less expensive rates to advertisers who are not concerned with targeting their ads to particular publishers, Web sites or sections. However, within such “run-of” inventory groups there may exist premium ad impressions that a publisher wishes to charge a higher price for and which are normally sold separately from the rest of the inventory. For example, it may be that ad impressions on the home page of a Web site (e.g., www.yahoo.com) are considered premium inventory and thus should always command a higher price relative to other ad impressions within the same Web site or within a network that includes the Web site. Additionally, it may be that ad impressions within a particular section of a Web site (e.g., Yahoo! Sports) are considered premium but only for a particular period of time (e.g., Super Bowl Sunday).
In view of the foregoing, it may be deemed desirable to provide an online advertising system that enables advertisers to target “run-of” inventory, but that also enables publishers to selectively designate certain inventory within a “run-of” inventory group as premium. Inventory so designated should not be included within the “run-of” inventory group to which it would normally belong both during the booking process as well as during ad serving. Such an online advertising system may enable publishers to manage their inventory to obtain the best yield while providing the best return on investment (ROI) to advertisers.